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finbar
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Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy
Jan 1970 time: 06:18
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quote: Originally posted by ravagon
Personally I can't really see England losing heavily to the Irish as both of their matches to date have been fairly close regardless of their evident poor showing
(Is this going to be at Twickers or in Dublin btw?). |
Dublin. England's problem is that Ireland apparently played very well against Scotland without O'Driscoll and Darcy in the centres. They will be back against England. And all of Ireland will be keener than ever - if that's possible - to continue England's misery. England's two close losses have been to teams vastly less talented than Ireland. Wales have only one thing going for them - a running game built around the little winger. When they couldn't run, they were stuffed. And England couldn't beat them. You would not believe how inept the French were in the first half on the weekend. It was minnows stuff. England scored two tries in the first half and led comfortably at halftime. All the French did in the second half was decide to control the ball. Which they did. And England struggled to make it into the French 22 for most of the half. The French weren't playing well, just controlling the ball, playing a version of keepings-off. And England couldn't counter them. Unless there's a vast turnaround in England's performance - players and coach - Ireland, unless they choke, should handle them comfortably.
quote: I have to wonder though whether or not it wasn't the pretty abysymal goal kicking on the English side that drew them all down so much.
It must've been rather difficult to see the French pulling back a sizable lead with a single aspect of their game while seeing that same aspect of English rugby going down the toilet, so to speak ... |
Their crap goalkicking is, IMHO, the least of England's problems. It's a matter of selecting someone who can kick consistently. A win against France would have papered over the problems, a happenstance you referred to elsewhere in the post. If the loss against France results in some tough questions being asked in the England camp, and some tough decisions taken, then, in the long run, the loss was a good thing. Whether any of that happens remains to be seen.
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ravagon
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Australia
Sep 1999 time: 13:18
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Umm. Hadn't thought about Ireland having injuries too. O'Driscoll in particular. They haven't had rave reviews either from what I've read of this years 6N but that might've had something to do with it. Even I can see how having O'D back might perk the Paddy's up a bit. And in Dublin too ... ?
Puts things in a slightly different light.
When some of the English fans are hoping to lose just to convince the rest of the rugby public that they need changes ... well ...
I guess the real question is whether they'd need losses to the usual wooden spooners too, before they begin changing things around a bit.
I see that the French have a few more players back from injury for the matchup vs the Welsh. Rougerie, Jauzion and Harinordoquy (had to cut and past this one ).
They're still keeping Delaigue however, with Michalak presumably still on the bench - unless they see some sense in the next few days.
[Edit: Hmmm. Next 6N round isn't for a couple of weeks. What gives? Lazy SoB's. Just when it was getting interesting.]
Last edited by ravagon on 15-02-2005 at 13:47
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Havak
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Swing Low, Sweet Chariots.
Aug 1999 time: 05:18
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quote: The real danger is probably in a narrow win alongside another poor performance, perhaps in combination with a similarly lacklustre outing from the Irish. |
They won’t win in Dublin unless Eddie O’Sullivan gets the Irish headology completely wrong in the build up. He shouldn’t – he is too good for that.
The real danger from my point of view is a thorough 50 point drubbing followed by Andy Robinson sticking his head in the sand again and saying he saw ‘plenty of positives’. I’ve made my mind up on the man already – I never thought his poor record as a club coach qualified him for the England job and now he has proved it for me. He is an almost competent assistant coach and not much more.
Nigel Melville and Rob Andrew are probably making sure their phones are fully charged for after Dublin. If only Deano was in the frame – no one would lack for effort at least if ‘Warren’ was behind them.
It is also by no means certain that they will beat Italy and Scotland. They should of course – but I have not seen an England side so bereft of direction on a field since before Will Carlings time (circa 1988). They can squander winning positions so if both these sides put the pressure on – or simply hold onto the ball as France did – England could well lose both.
What kind of buy rates will the RFU then see for the Aus-NZ-Samoa massacres in the autumn?
Radical action is needed I think – starting with a new coach and a skipper close enough to whack forwards around the head when they give penalties away.
quote: what I considered a rather amusing post, from a Kiwi (surprise surprise? ) in England. |
It amazes me how so many of your countrymen can live here and still not grow a sense of humour. 
Brian Moore’s comment about the Black shirt was only in jest – and even then Butler tried to defuse it knowing how touchy Kiwis would be about it. Perhaps it was ill conceived but it was on BBC1 for domestic consumption so tough tumshy on ex pat Kiwis who might have been offended as it was indeed rather funny - I have also heard far worse from antipodeans whilst watching S12 games. Sarcasm and irony passed your commentator by then Ravagon? Certainly spelling Brian’s name correctly was beyond him. Yes and I know that type of pedantry annoys Kiwis too. 
I loved the closing quote from that journalist too – I guess the one heavy win over France is causing a little over confidence then? 
Just one question for you – as Moore played his last game for England in 1995 why is that fan using something he said as evidence that the England Rugby TEAM is arrogant? Pitbull was considered a verbal and physical loose canon as a player rather like Campo – but to judge the team now based on anything he says is unfair and actually rather strange to be honest. It’s like hating Gregan’s Aussie side for something Campo said yesterday?
quote: If the loss against France results in some tough questions being asked in the England camp, and some tough decisions taken, then, in the long run, the loss was a good thing |
Um – you did hear what Andy Robinson said post game Finbar? I wonder if that kind of denial can be overcome to be honest?
Certainly all the comments I have seen have been about squad solidarity around the kickers and the skipper saying how close they are to being the real article – and yes the latter made me choke on my morning coffee yesterday. 
Let me see if I can quote an example from veteran Tigers forward ‘Wiggy’ Rowntree, a player I have a lot of time for in fact:
quote: I have had enough of hearing about the Martin Johnson era - as much as I love him - and the World Cup era. What else can we do apart from kick forward and be positive? Why should we panic?
I am extremely disappointed with losing to France but I am going to sulk for a bit and then move on. Does everyone expect us to give and go home? There is enough talent in this squad to regroup.
Last week against Wales was embarrassing, we did not play. But against France we did, so we have to keep looking at the positives. Ireland looked very efficient against Scotland. They closed out the game very well. I was fortunate enough to play there in 2003 and if ever there is a game which is going to give you tingles up the spine, this is it.
We will be playing against a quality side. They have one hell of a backline as well as efficient forwards but there is no pressure on us, all the pressure is on them” |
So let me paraphrase that then: “Problem, what problem?”
I see Owen has signed for Newcastle after all Finbar – does he think it is in Ireland by any chance? 
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flipside
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for Sean Marcelo
Jun 2003 time: 05:18
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quote: Originally posted by Havak "No one better than Andy Robinson for the job".
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True. Good luck at Lansdowne, Havak. Oh, and I'm alive.Child born. Extremely happy. Looking forward to the last three games, worried that if we blow it this year, that this group of players will not ever be able to show how good they really are.
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